Bernd Leno wants to join Arsenal to replace Petr Cech, according to reports, as rumours grow that he could be the club’s priority goalkeeping target.

Leno

The Express write that Leno ‘wants’ the move, and ‘is keen to join’ this summer. They say Arsenal are looking to replace their current number one, and Leno is top of their wishlist. Bild reported that Arsenal held talks with the player earlier this month.

The goalkeeper has already turned down Napoli, but his agent admitted at the time there were alternative options. Speaking in Bild, Leno’s representative Uli Ferber said: “I can confirm that there were negotiations with Napoli, which we cancelled. Napoli is not an option. There are more options, we’ll get together after the season ends.”

According to various reports, Arsenal are one of those alternatives, along with their Europa League semi-final rivals Atletico Madrid.

Leno previously told the media that if he leaves Germany, it will only be to play as a ‘clear number 1’. He most certainly wouldn’t have any guarantees of that if he went to Atletico, who have Jan Oblak. That might explain why he’s more keen on the Arsenal job.

Petr Cech will be 36 by June, and David Ospina has one year left on his contract. The club is set up for a new goalkeeper to come in and nail down a starting spot.

One of Leno’s biggest strengths is his distribution, which is something Arsenal often struggle with. The goalkeeper also travelled with his country to win the Confederations Cup last summer, although he only appeared once.

His stats aren’t exactly mind-blowing, with 12 clean sheets in 37 matches, the same as Cech. We’ll see if Arsenal are convinced about him in the coming weeks.

Leno isn’t the only goalkeeper out there that Arsenal could move for though.

Let’s take a look at 6 other goalkeepers to see who would be the best fit…

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

• Current club: FC Barcelona
• Age: 26
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated value: £36m

The Spanish media linked Arsenal to Ter Stegen late last year, claiming the club made an approach for the Barcelona shot stopper. He’s one of the top performing goalkeepers around at the moment, making more than five saves for every goal he concedes.

With him in goal, Barcelona have a defensive record second only to Atletico Madrid in La Liga, which is quite some achievement.

The German is also becoming a regular in his country’s national side. He’s started eight of their last 10 matches despite strong competition.

Unfortunately, the catch is that Ter Stegen’s good performances make Barcelona unlikely to want to let him go. He reportedly has a £158m release clause, but I can’t imagine Arsenal paying that much for a goalkeeper.

If he does decide he wants a move to the Premier League though, he would make a great buy.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 23 in 47 matches
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 4.11
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Jan Oblak

• Current club: Atletico Madrid
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £63m

According to the Catalan newspaper Sport, Raul Sanllehi is trying to bring Oblak to the Emirates. The Slovenian goalkeeper has tons of experience at the top level, and is very highly rated.

As a result, it could be difficult to lure him away from his current club, particularly as they’ve qualified for the Champions League and Arsenal haven’t.

His statistics are slightly unbalanced by the fact that Atletico are so good defensively.

They base their game around solidity at the back, making it much more difficult for opponents to get good quality opportunities to test Oblak.

Nonetheless, as you can see from the stats, the 25-year-old doesn’t disappoint when called upon.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 29 in 48 matches
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 4.56
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 55%

Alisson

• Current club: AS Roma
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £40.5m

Recently the media have linked Alisson with Liverpool, but it’s definitely a deal Arsenal should think about hijacking.

He apparently refused a new deal to try and force a move this summer, and is in great form in Italy.

The proposed extension included a buy-out clause of £71m, so it’s lucky he rejected it.

He’s even caught the eye of Real Madrid scouts with his impressive displays, particularly in Europe.

He kept clean sheets against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea in the Champions League group stages.

Most recently he performed very well in the knockout rounds against Shakhtar Donetsk, helping his side to progress to the quarter-finals, then the semis, before eventual elimination.

Arsenal missed their chance to bring Wojciech Szczesny back from Roma last year, perhaps they can sign Alisson from the Italians instead.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 22 in 49 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 3.41
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Jack Butland

• Current club: Stoke City
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £16.2m

Jack Butland is constantly linked with a move to the Emirates, even though his performances haven’t been so impressive this season.

The England international has struggled with Stoke, although that’s largely the fault of his teammates.

Second bottom of the table and already relegated, it’s probably unfair to judge him too harshly on this campaign.

Then again, the own goal he scored recently didn’t do him any favours.

Nonetheless, he’s an experienced Premier League goalkeeper, and no one else in the competition can boast more saves this season than him.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 6 in 36 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.89
• Errors leading to goals: 1
• Distribution accuracy: 50%

Gianluigi Donnarumma

• Current club: AC Milan
• Age: 19
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £36m

Although transfermarkt.co.uk give Donnarumma’s value as £36m, in reality he’d probably cost as much as almost any goalkeeper in Europe.

The goalkeeper only turned 19 in February, and already has 114 appearances for Milan.

He has also made his debut for the Italian national team, and once Buffon retires he’ll likely hold down the number one spot for years to come.

If Arsenal signed Donnarumma they probably wouldn’t need a new goalkeeper for more than a decade.

Unfortunately everyone knows that, so there would be massive competition for his signature, and a bidding war that Milan would probably drag on as long as they could.

Nonetheless, for such a promising talent, it would be worth a shot.

He’s not without his faults though, as you’d expect from a 19-year-old.

This season he’s made more errors leading to goals than anyone on this list, including one against Arsenal, spilling Granit Xhaka’s shot into his own net.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 21 in 52 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.95
• Errors leading to goals: 3
• Distribution accuracy: 78%

Timo Horn

• Current club: FC Koln
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2023
• Estimated value: £10.8m

Horn is a self-confessed Arsenal fan, and in January the media linked him with a move to the club.

He is well-regarded in Germany, and represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Like Butland, Horn has the disadvantage of playing for a club performing very poorly. Koln got relegated from the Bundesliga, so he was unlikely to keep many clean sheets.

Of course, that didn’t stop him keeping Wenger’s side out when they visited Germany.

Koln’s misfortune looked to be good news for Arsenal, as Horn would reportedly be available for £5.4m if the German side went down. When they did, however, he gave a public statement to say he wasn’t going to activate the clause. This one could be a dead end.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 7 in 43 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.52
• Errors leading to goals: 2
• Distribution accuracy: 57%